That at least looks better than the ET-2*** (notice non M) but I doubt it since it's in the same series although being a MFP but at 200 EUR I guess you can't expect much and I doubt you'll even find a Laser MFP at the price point.They are certainly not cheap and garbage. Not sure about any previous generation, but the current one makes a really good impression. As said, I have done extensive research and only read goods things about them.
Sure thing, they are not of high end build quality, but also not inferior to any laser printer in the same price range. Their pigment ink prints by PrecisionCore print head with 400 nozzles are also supposed to be nearly as good if not equal to laser prints at pretty much the same speed with quicker start due to their heat-free technology (no heat-up time).
Of course any ink printer is destined to be used regularly, and that's what we are going to do as it will be put to good use as everyday office printer.
They are indeed software driven (GDI) but well supported by the escpr2 printer driver for CUPS, which just got ported to FreeBSD.
Overall I am confident that I made the right and economical decision, and I'm especially glad that I no longer will have a source of particulates in the vicinity of my office desk, which really was something of concern to me.
For comparison, https://www.idealo.de/preisvergleich/OffersOfProduct/5175858_-ecosys-m5526cdn-kyocera.html this is built like a tank however as you can tell price fluctuates a lot (at sub 350EUR its a steal) but again it also depends on what you're looking for. It will work with pretty much everything as it supports any generic protocol there is. Toner costs are decent but it's not a suitable machine if you print a lot, the next model (~500 EUR last year) offers much better price/page ratio however it all depends on how much you're going to print. You can usually find similar deals with Canon from time to time but they tends to be a bit less robust and have creeks etc. However there are of course some limitations such as printing Photos etc going the Laser printer route.
Also the MSRP is well... off the charts, you'll be lucky if there's a 10% margin on electronics in general as a reseller and what Epson suggests is ridicious (as with pretty much any other manufacturer).